BREWING, leisure and retail giant Scottish & Newcastle is overhauling its fleet choice list, with Toyota and Volkswagen replacing Ford and Nissan in a deal worth £2.5 million. Only Rover remains untouched on the three-make choice list, a position it won with Ford and Nissan in 1996.
Toyota and VW will be appointed for a two-year contract with an option to extend by a further year. With 750 vehicles replaced each year on the 2,500-vehicle fleet, there are more than £2.5 million worth of potential sales available if the contract runs for the full three years.
Volkswagen is tipped to become the main seller in the fleet, threatening Rover's current dominance with 60% of vehicles. Cars will be run for four years or 80,000 miles, although 75% of the fleet is for essential business use, so the 80,000-mile cut-off is reached after three years. They will be purchased outright by the company but managed on a full-maintenance basis by PHH Vehicle Management.